Living with Nature

In one of his books, Joseph Wood Krutch decries the idea of nature as spectacle.  He reminds us that in order to truly understand and appreciate nature, we must have an intimate connection with it.  We must allow ourselves to be molded by nature, its rhythms, harmonies, and cycles.

We must know the habits and ways of everything surrounding us: the life cycles of the insects, the way that stones weather, what the birds and animals depend on for food, and what plants emerge only after the rains, as opposed to those that stubbornly persist even in times of drought.  I think of how much I love the desert marigold, one of the most beautiful of wildflowers.

Or the five-needle pricklyleaf, that is ubiquitous in the little corners of wildness that exist in our neighborhood.

 Bright globe mallow, that, like all mallows, has many medicinal uses.

  The Turk's head (eagle claw) cactus, like this young specimen.

Or the nipple beehive cactus, which, like many species in both the U.S. and Mexico, is affected by illegal poaching, and habitat loss due to unchecked land development.

We can learn harmony with nature, whether in the wilderness or in the garden, by only taking what we need,

and leaving the rest undisturbed, so that others, whether they be our fellow human beings or our fellow creatures, may find enough for their needs--even if that need is only for a place of beauty and peace.